Medical College of Georgia will freeze hiring on 70 positions as it attempts to meet a recommended 10 percent budget cut, an official said Friday. And that may not be the last of the reductions, said William Bowes, senior vice president for finance and administration.

“There might be more cuts coming,” he said.

On the heels of a January revenue report that showed state tax collections down by 14 percent over the previous year, the University System of Georgia is asking its institutions to go from a 9.5 percent reduction to a 10 percent reduction. Freezing those 70 positions should save MCG between $750,000 and $900,000, Mr. Bowes said.

The frozen positions will be primarily support positions paid for by state funds, which accounts for about 25 percent of MCG’s budget, he said. It comes on top of 84 vacant positions the school eliminated earlier to meet budget cut recommendations.

“I’m still trying to hold off on doing layoffs,” Mr. Bowes said.

The most recent cuts will not at this point delay an expansion of MCG School of Medicine to a satellite campus in Athens in conjunction with the University of Georgia, he said. A search for faculty for that satellite school will continue, in part because those positions are unlikely to be filled until late this fiscal year or into next fiscal year and would not impact this year’s budget. MCG and UGA signed a memorandum of understanding this week that the satellite school would be up and running by 2010.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com